Summary

The Johnny Weissmuller era of sprint freestyle swimming having been ended by a Hollywood movie contract, a new generation of swimmers, spearheaded by a wave of brilliant young Japanese teenagers, emerged at the Los Angeles Games. At the forefront of the youth invasion was Yasuji Miyazaki who was still two months short of his sixteenth birthday when he lined up for the final. Miyazaki’s qualifying performances, including an Olympic record in the semi-final, had been earned him the title of favourite and he lived up to this billing in the final. The race itself was a close one, only 1.3 seconds covered all six men, but Miyazaki reached the finish clear of his fellow Japanese, Tatsugo Kawaishi . The six competitors in the final were an even split between the USA and Japan, indeed only one Japanese male swimmer missed a final in L.A. The 1928 silver medallist István Bárány did not reach the final although film of his semi-final suggested that he may have finished second, and not fourth as the judges insisted. Tatsugo Kawaishi later served in the Japanese navy and was just thirty-three when he was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

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